DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Norway finds 'substantial' mineral resources on its seabed
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Nerijus Adomaitis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The resources estimate, covering remote areas in the Norwegian Sea and Greenland Sea, showed there were 38 million tonnes of copper, almost twice the volume mined globally each year, and 45 million tonnes of zinc accumulated in polymetallic sulphides. About 24 million tonnes of magnesium and 3.1 million tonnes of cobalt are estimated to be in manganese crusts grown on bedrock over millions of years, as well as 1.7 million tonnes of cerium, a rare earth metal used in alloys. The manganese crusts are also estimated to contain other rare earth metals, such as neodymium, yttrium and dysprosium. "Costly, rare minerals such as neodymium and dysprosium are extremely important for magnets in wind turbines and the engines in electric vehicles", the NPD said. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTEnvironmental groups have called on Norway to postpone its seabed mineral exploration until more studies are conducted to understand the organisms living on the seabed and the impact of mining on them.

☆ Ex-Wagner commander witnessed comrades shot for fleeing, says his Norwegian lawyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Ilze Filks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OSLO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - A former commander of Russia's Wagner mercenary group who fled to Norway has spoken about how he witnessed some of his comrades being shot as they were trying to flee from the frontline in Ukraine, his Norwegian lawyer told Reuters. His lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told Reuters that Medvedev had seen some "incredibly horrible" situations while he was fighting with Wagner last autumn. He had witnessed "the shooting of his comrades while he was watching because they tried to flee," Risnes said in an interview, citing Medvedev. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed, millions uprooted and cities reduced to rubble since Russian forces invaded Ukraine 11 months ago. Other groups like the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Clooney Foundation were also interested in talking to Medvedev, his lawyer said.

☆ Norway’s fossil fuel bonanza stokes impassioned debate about how best to spend its ‘war profits’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It has ignited an impassioned debate about international justice, with many questioning whether it is fair for Norway to rake in record oil and gas revenues at the expense of others' misfortune. Norway's Finance Ministry expects the state's revenues from oil and gas sales to climb to 1.38 trillion Norwegian krone ($131 billion) this year. "They are war profits," Lars-Henrik Paarup Michelsen, director of the Norwegian Climate Foundation think tank, told CNBC via telephone. Oil companies are getting richer and richer, but we don't see that money — and who is really paying for this? The so-called Government Pension Fund Global, among the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, was established in the 1990s to invest the surplus revenues of Norway's oil and gas sector.

☆ Factbox: Tanks for Ukraine: who is lining up to send them to Kyiv?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Germany, the United States and more allies are poised to announce plans to send tanks to Ukraine, officials and sources say, after Britain said it would send its Challenger 2 tanks and Poland pressed Berlin for approval to send German-built tanks. Ukraine has until recently faced resistance to its requests for main battle tanks to fight against invading Russian forces. BRITAINThe British government announced on Jan. 14 that it would send its a squadron, or 14, of its Challenger 2 battle tanks, which has a 120 mm rifled gun. POLANDWarsaw has said it is ready to send up to 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks and has been pressing Berlin to approve the move. NORWAYThe Norwegian government is considering whether to send some of its Leopard tanks, newspapers reported.

☆ Factbox: Tanks for Ukraine: who is lining up to send them?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Germany has approved sending tanks to Ukraine, after Britain said it would send Challenger 2 tanks and Poland pushed for Berlin's approval to send German-built Leopard 2 tanks. Ukraine has until recently faced resistance to its requests for main battle tanks to fight against invading Russian forces. It said it would send an initial company of 14 tanks. NORWAYThe Norwegian government is considering whether to send some of its Leopard tanks, newspapers reported. THE NETHERLANDSDutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands was prepared to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine if needed.

☆ Exclusive: Equinor joins Western oil firms' retreat from Nigeria -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ron Bousso | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The company has hired investment bank Standard Chartered to run the sale process, which could raise up to $1 billion, the sources said. Several Western oil giants including Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Shell (SHEL.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), are seeking to exit or scale back their presence in Nigeria, particularly in onshore operations which have been plagued by theft and devastating spills for years. Equinor's exit is part of the company's efforts to focus on newer and more profitable assets, the sources said. Nigeria's offshore oil and gas operations remain lucrative due to their larger scale, better security and attractive financial terms offered by the government. Operations outside Norway account for around a third of the company's total oil and gas production.

☆ Russian warship armed with hypersonic missiles to join drills with China, S.Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 23 (Reuters) - A Russian warship armed with new-generation hypersonic cruise weapons will participate in joint exercises with the navies of China and South Africa in February, the Russian state agency, TASS, said on Monday. The missiles fly at nine times the speed of sound, with a range of more than 1,000 km (620 miles), Russia says. They form the centrepiece of its hypersonic arsenal, along with the Avangard glide vehicle that entered combat duty in 2019. On Thursday, the South African National Defense Force said the drills, to run from Feb. 17 to Feb. 27 near the port city of Durban and Richards Bay, aim "to strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China." The exercise will be the second involving the three countries in South Africa, after a drill in 2019, the defence force added in its statement.

Zelenskyy has called the Russian attacks on infrastructure “energy terrorism” and vowed the assault won’t change the course of the war. People sit in a dark cafe during a blackout after Russian strikes Dec. 29 in Lviv, Ukraine. Company officials believe Russian engineers who know the vulnerable points in Ukraine’s electricity system most likely advised the Russian military on its targeting. Water and cellphonesThe attack on the country’s electricity grid has had a knock-on effect for other infrastructure, including water supplies and mobile phone service. Although the assault on Ukraine’s infrastructure hasn’t damaged Ukraine’s position on the battlefield or broken the country’s will to fight, it has inflicted “huge damage” on the economy, he said.

☆ Deputy U.N. chief pushes women's rights during visit to Taliban heartland
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed expressed alarm to Taliban officials in Kandahar over violations of women's rights in Afghanistan, the United Nations said on Friday after she made a rare visit to the Taliban's southern heartland. Mohammed finished a four-day visit to Afghanistan on Friday, also meeting Taliban officials in the capital Kabul after the administration banned most female aid workers and stopped women and girls from attending high school and university. The U.N. General Assembly last month postponed for the second time a decision on whether the Taliban administration can send an ambassador to New York. Dozens of Taliban leaders are also subject to U.N. sanctions. No government has formally recognized the Taliban administration since it seized power in August 2021.

☆ Brooksby delivers Ruud shock to send second seed crashing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

I was pretty confident with my level and just wanted to have fun out there and see what could happen," Brooksby, 22, said. After a medical timeout following the second set, Ruud was far more comfortable on court but found himself broken and down 2-0 and then 5-2 in the third but he saved three matchpoints in the next game to force a tiebreak as Brooksby's clean winners deserted him. Up next for Brooksby, who is making his Australian Open debut this year after withdrawing in 2022 due to illness, is compatriot Tommy Paul following his five-set victory over Spanish 30th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. "It's going another battle for sure, all the Americans are going really well right now, and we're all pushing each other," Brooksby said. "It's something that has been with me for around two years since I got a strain here in the fourth round," Ruud said.

☆ Man City close gap at the top with thrilling comeback win over Spurs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Peter Hall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANCHESTER, England, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Manchester City got back to winning ways in thrilling style after coming from two goals down to beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 on Thursday, a victory that moved the champions to within five points of Premier League leaders Arsenal. Looking to avoid a third successive defeat in all competitions, City were sluggish from the off and went into the break two goals behind after Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal netted in quick succession at the end of the opening period. Three goals in 12 second-half minutes, however, quickly turned the match on its head, as strikes from Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland, the Norwegian's first in four appearances in all competitions, and Riyad Mahrez put City in front. With the visitors chasing an equaliser down the other end, Mahrez added a late fourth to keep City well in the title race, five behind Arsenal having played one game more than the Gunners, while Spurs stay fifth, five points off the top four. Reporting by Peter Hall, editing by Pritha SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Former Russian mercenary commander flees to Norway and seeks asylum
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Mithil Aggarwal | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Caroline-Radnofsky-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A former member of an infamous Russian mercenary group who fought in Ukraine says he staged a dramatic escape to Norway, where he is seeking asylum and offering to cooperate with international war crimes probes. Medvedev said he had crossed into Norway and surrendered to local police before claiming asylum in the country, which shares an Arctic border with Russia. The former mercenary recounted his defection from his former employer, which he joined last year on a four-month contract after serving time in prison. Medvedev said he climbed through barbed-wire fences, evaded border patrol dogs, ran away from guards' bullets and ran through a forest and over an icy lake to make it into Norway. Norwegian soldiers patrol the border with Russia near Korpfjells, Norway.

☆ Norway's wealth fund buys 49% stake in Iberdrola's Spanish renewables portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OSLO, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Norway's $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy a 49% stake in Iberdrola's 1.3 gigawatt (GW) portfolio of Spanish solar plants and onshore wind farms for 600 million euros ($650 million). Iberdrola (IBE.MC) will remain co-owner and operator of the portfolio, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the operator of the Norwegian fund, said in a statement. "The portfolio comprises seven solar plant projects and five onshore wind projects with an installed capacity of 1265 MW, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 700,000 Spanish households," NBIM said. Solar plants make up 80% of the portfolio, while onshore wind accounts for the remaining 20%. It recently sold a 49% stake in an offshore wind farm in Germany for 700 million euros.

☆ Analysts expect this under-the-radar global carbon capture stock to soar by up to 65%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Shares of Norway-based Aker Carbon Capture could rise by 65%, according to analysts, as demand increases for emissions reduction technology. Aker Carbon Capture builds carbon capture and storage (CCS) plants in an effort to lower emissions from industrial cement and steelmaking plants. The company's latest innovation, revealed last week, would cut the energy needed to capture carbon and improve the company's profitability in the future, according to analysts at Berenberg. Berenberg analysts said Aker's stock could also move following an expected announcement from the U.K. to build carbon capture plants. Aker Carbon Capture's ADRs are also traded on the OTC markets in the U.S.

☆ Factbox: European companies cut jobs as economy sputters
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Stephane MaheJan 17 (Reuters) - Decades-high inflation and the impact of war in Ukraine have forced companies across Europe into lay-offs or hiring freezes. * HUSQVARNA (HUSQb.ST): the garden equipment and tools maker announced in late October it will cut 1,000 jobs, the vast majority of them related to the shift from petrol to battery-powered tools. * SIEMENS GAMESA (SGREN.MC): the Spanish wind turbine maker in late September said it plans to cut 2,900 jobs, mostly in Europe, as part of a plan to return to profitability. * CLAS OHLSON (CLASb.ST): the Swedish hardware store chain said in December it would cut about 85 full-time jobs amongst other measures to deliver cost savings and reduced depreciation. BANKS AND FINANCIALS* KLARNA: Dagens Industri reported in May the Swedish payments company would lay off about 10% of its 7,000 employees.

☆ Norway naval officer goes on trial over oil tanker collision
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OSLO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A Norwegian naval officer stands trial on Monday accused of negligence that led to the 2018 collision between a warship he commanded and an oil tanker in which the military vessel sank. The early-morning crash between the Ingstad and the fully loaded Sola TS crude carrier near a major North Sea oil export terminal also triggered shutdowns of parts of Norway's petroleum production. There was no leak from the oil tanker. A commission investigating the collision later said the brightly lit Sola TS may have been difficult to distinguish from the nearby terminal from where it had set off, confusing the Ingstad crew. The collision exposed safety gaps in the Norwegian navy, including inadequate training and risk assessment systems.

☆ Salary Transparency Is Coming — so I Decided to Tell Everyone What I Make
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +37 min

But there's a glaring catch to my support for pay transparency: I haven't actually practiced it in my own life. To find out why, I decided to commemorate the dawning age of salary transparency by telling pretty much everyone in my life what I earn. Norway responded to pay transparency with yet another level of transparency, and that brought down the level of snooping.. Thanks to its nationwide experiment, Norway has been fertile ground for scholars trying to measure the consequences of extreme pay transparency. But I do believe that as more states implement pay-disclosure laws — and as Gen Z increasingly comes to dominate the workforce — salary transparency is going to become the new norm.

☆ Former Russian mercenary commander fled to Norway and is willing to give evidence of its worst crimes in Ukraine, lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former commander for the notorious Wagner Group fled Russia and is now seeking asylum in Norway. Andrey Medvedev left Russia fearful for his life after leaving the group, his lawyer told Insider. Risnes told Insider that Medvedev enlisted with the Wagner Group last summer. The Wagner Group, which is increasingly recruiting from Russian prisons, is alleged by a variety of organizations to have committed actions in Ukraine that would constitute war crimes. The Wagner Group has previously been deployed in Libya, Syria, and in other destinations across the world.

☆ Djokovic seeks normal service at Australian Open to match Nadal
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Jan 12, 2023; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a backhand during a practice session on Rod Laver Arena with his coach Goran Ivanisevic at Melbourne Park. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY SportsMELBOURNE, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic resumes his Grand Slam title race with Rafa Nadal next week at the Australian Open, returning to what was his happiest hunting ground before the ugly controversy which led to his absence last year. While Roland Garros has been Nadal's domain for nearly two decades, Melbourne Park is almost as much for Djokovic, with the world number five capturing nine titles and holding an 82-6 record since 2007. Djokovic has also proven to be unbeatable in Australian Open semi-finals and finals with 9-0 records in both, making him the automatic favourite anytime he enjoys a deep run. The injury withdrawal of world number one and U.S. Open champion Carlos Alcaraz robbed the year's first Grand Slam of a genuine title contender.

[1/4] Portraits of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including of Henry Kissinger, are seen in the meeting room where the Norwegian Nobel Committee holds its meetings at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, January 3, 2023. Nominations to the Peace Prize remain secret for 50 years. Le Duc Tho refused the Peace Prize on the grounds peace had not yet been established. Two out of the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee - all now dead - resigned in protest. "The prize was given to Kissinger for having gotten the U.S. out of Vietnam ... without any peaceful solution in South Vietnam," he said.

☆ Russian warship holds drills in Norwegian Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERSMOSCOW, Jan 10 (Reuters) - A Russian warship armed with hypersonic cruise weapons has held exercises in the Norwegian Sea, the defence ministry said on Tuesday. "The crew of the frigate 'Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov' conducted an air defense exercise in the Norwegian Sea," the ministry said. "The crew... conducted an exercise to repel the means of an air attack of a simulated enemy in the Norwegian Sea." Russia sees the weapons as a way to pierce increasingly sophisticated U.S. missile defences which Putin has warned could one day shoot down Russian nuclear missiles. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week warned the United States that the hypersonic missiles would soon be close to NATO's shores.

☆ Norway expects jump in oil output and gas near record highs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Nerijus Adomaitis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OSLO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Norway's oil output is expected to rise by 6.9% this year as the huge Johan Sverdrup field ramps up production while gas volumes are predicted to remain unchanged near record highs, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on Monday. Production of crude oil and other petroleum liquids such as condensate is likely to increase to 2.02 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 from 1.89 million last year, NPD's forecasts show. The combined volume of oil and gas is expected to rise to 4.12 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in 2023, up from a preliminary 3.99 million boed last year, the NPD's forecasts show. The country's gas output is expected to stay virtually unchanged in 2023 at 122 billion cubic metres (bcm), or 2.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, the NPD said, in line with a recent government projection. ($1 = 9.9232 Norwegian crowns)Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis Editing by Terje Solsvik and David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Putin wasted his leverage over Europe, which no longer relies on Russia for gas, German minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

German minister says Russia wasted the leverage it had in the early stage of the conflict with Ukraine. Europe was heavily reliant on Russian gas, but countries have now diversified their supplies. After the invasion of Ukraine there were fears of blackouts in Germany and other countries across Europe, as Russia drastically reduced its gas supplies amid sharp criticism of its aggression against its neighbor. But Germany's scramble to secure alternative energy supplies has borne fruit, with the country switching to sources of energy including Liquefied Natural Gas, or LNG. Habeck said that Germany was now "one-third done" with replacing Russian energy supplies through other means, and sounded a note of cautious optimism.

☆ Germany backs Norwegian plan to capture carbon from cement
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Habeck's visit to the Norcem cement plant in Brevik, Norway, represents a shift in German policy back towards efforts to deal with planet-warming emissions by capturing them and making use (CCSU) of them in industrial processes. Projects have repeatedly stalled on issues of cost and environmental opposition as campaigners have been concerned carbon capture and storage can serve to prolong the use of fossil fuels. As cement-making inevitably emits carbon, its capture is necessary to mitigate pollution, and the Norwegian plant is meant to serve as a global blueprint, eventually capturing 400,000 tonnes of CO2 - half its emissions - per year. Germany aims to cut 65% of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 and to become carbon-neutral by 2045. During Habeck's visit, Norwegian state-controlled oil firm Equinor (EQNR.OL) and German utility RWE said separately they planned to develop a supply chain for low-carbon hydrogen.

☆ U.K. saw hottest-ever year in 2022 as Europe’s climate warms
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON — Britain had its warmest year on record in 2022, official figures showed Thursday, the latest evidence that climate change is transforming Europe’s weather. The Met Office weather agency said the provisional annual average temperature in the U.K. was 10.03 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit), the highest since comparable records began in 1884. The previous record was 9.88 Celsius (49.8 Fahrenheit) set in 2014. France’s average temperature was above 14 Celsius (57.2 Fahrenheit) in 2022, making it the hottest year since weather readings began in 1900. The archipelago’s average temperature for June, July and August was 7.4 Celsius (45.3 Fahrenheit), the Norwegian Meteorological Institute said.

Search resuls for: "The Norwegian"

25 mentions found